--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The war was an insanity he had never…" description: "\"“The war was an insanity he had never understood, and no one in Phoenix had been able to explain it to him. At least, no one had been able to give him ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/octavia-e-butler-2861_insanity_the-war-was-an-insanity-he-had-never-und_2867051.jpg" --- # The war was an insanity he had never understood, and no… ![“The war was an insanity he had never understood, and no one in Phoenix had been able to explain it to him. At least, no one had been able to give him a reason why people who had excellent reasons to suppose they would destroy themselves if they did a certain thing chose to do that thing anyway. He…” quote by Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/octavia-e-butler-2861_insanity_the-war-was-an-insanity-he-had-never-und_2867051.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/octavia-e-butler-2861_insanity_the-war-was-an-insanity-he-had-never-und_2867051.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/octavia-e-butler-2861_insanity_the-war-was-an-insanity-he-had-never-und_2867051.jpg) > ““The war was an insanity he had never understood, and no one in Phoenix had been able to explain it to him. At least, no one had been able to give him a reason why people who had excellent reasons to suppose they would destroy themselves if they did a certain thing chose to do that thing anyway. He thought he understood anger, hatred, humiliation, even the desire to kill a man. He had felt all those things. But to kill everyone … almost to kill the Earth … There were times when he wondered if somehow the Oankali had not caused the war for their own purposes. How could sane people like the ones he had left behind in Phoenix do such a thing—or, how could they let insane people gain control of devices that could do so much harm? If you knew a man was out of his mind, you restrained him. You didn’t give him power.”” [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. War can be driven by irrational forces and manipulation, leaving rational people powerless and confused. **In simple terms:** War often stems from chaos and control. Key Takeaway Question authority and seek truth. Themes war power irrationality Mood somber thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - political conflict - social unrest - personal crisis Key Concepts manipulation human nature control Questions to Reflect On - What drives people to support destructive actions? - How can societies prevent manipulation? A Different Perspective Rational explanations may not capture emotional complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Insanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insanity/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [The essence of war is insanity. Destruction, death, women widowed, children orphaned, lands plundered, property destroyed, lives decimated - it's all bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-paulsen/the-essence-of-war-is-insanity-destruction-death-women-widowed/) [Gary Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-paulsen/) > [“When I think now of all the lunatics I knew at Baryton's, I can't help suspecting that the only two manifestations of our innermost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/when-i-think-now-of-all-the-lunatics-i-knew-at-baryton-s-i-can-t-help/) [Louis-Ferdinand Céline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [I grew up acutely aware of the exile and distance caused by war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiam-abbass/i-grew-up-acutely-aware-of-the-exile-and-distance-caused-by-war/) [Hiam Abbass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiam-abbass/) > [They wouldn’t have believed me, and if they had they would have wanted me to explain. And I had no explanation, no answers. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/they-wouldn-t-have-believed-me-and-if-they-had-they-would-have-wanted/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war; and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-p-taylor/lenin-was-the-first-to-discover-that-capitalism-inevitably-caused-war/) [A. J. P. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-p-taylor/) > [Preparedness never caused a war and unpreparedness never prevented one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-prag-kahn/preparedness-never-caused-a-war-and-unpreparedness-never-prevented-one/) Florence Prag Kahn > [“My mother was mad, but I was not. My father was old, but I was young. Like Spartan Helen, I caused a war. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/my-mother-was-mad-but-i-was-not-my-father-was-old-but-i-was-young/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [And when you say the policies are what caused this war - American policies - that's not to say that they're wrong. It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scheuer/and-when-you-say-the-policies-are-what-caused-this-war-american/) [Michael Scheuer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scheuer/) > [The Jews caused the war, the Jews caused the outbreak of thieving and robbery all over the country, the Jews caused the inefficiency of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/the-jews-caused-the-war-the-jews-caused-the-outbreak-of-thieving-and/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [This is the reason why it is crucial to distinguish anger from hatred. There is a kind of anger (nonsinful kind) which...is in God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/this-is-the-reason-why-it-is-crucial-to-distinguish-anger-from-hatred/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [Everyone wants a happy life without difficulties or suffering. We create many of the problems we face. No one intentionally creates problems, but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/everyone-wants-a-happy-life-without-difficulties-or-suffering-we/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Anger, hatred and jealousy never solve problems, only affection, concern and respect can do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/anger-hatred-and-jealousy-never-solve-problems-only-affection-concern/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [We cannot overcome anger and hatred simply by suppressing them. We need to actively cultivate the antidotes: patience and tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/we-cannot-overcome-anger-and-hatred-simply-by-suppressing-them-we/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [One can overcome the forces of negative emotions, like anger and hatred, by cultivating their counter-forces, like love and compassion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/one-can-overcome-the-forces-of-negative-emotions-like-anger-and/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [So there is such a thing as perfect hatred, just as there is such a thing as righteous anger. But it is a hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/so-there-is-such-a-thing-as-perfect-hatred-just-as-there-is-such-a/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) ## More by Octavia E. Butler > [The lovely thing about writing is, well, two things. One, writing fiction allows us to bring an order to our lives that doesn't exist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/the-lovely-thing-about-writing-is-well-two-things-one-writing-fiction/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“It’s too easy to follow bad but attractive leaders, embrace pleasurable but destructive habits, ignore looming disaster because maybe it won’t happen after all—or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/it-s-too-easy-to-follow-bad-but-attractive-leaders-embrace/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“He rubbed his head again. 'Five years is longer than it sounds. So much longer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/he-rubbed-his-head-again-five-years-is-longer-than-it-sounds-so-much/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“Se sono tuoi, stabilisci tu le regole. A chi importa che cosa ne pensano i giocattoli? Spazza via l'intera famiglia di un giocattolo, poi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/se-sono-tuoi-stabilisci-tu-le-regole-a-chi-importa-che-cosa-ne/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [I don't know how much of a market there is for space opera. Just because it's in the movies doesn't mean magazines are buying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/i-don-t-know-how-much-of-a-market-there-is-for-space-opera-just/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“Freedom is dangerous but it's precious, too. You can't just throw it away or let it slip away. You can't sell it for bread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/freedom-is-dangerous-but-it-s-precious-too-you-can-t-just-throw-it/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“Sometimes I wrote things because I couldn't say them, couldn't sort out my feelings about them, couldn't keep them bottled inside me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/sometimes-i-wrote-things-because-i-couldn-t-say-them-couldn-t-sort/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“In the book of Job, God says he made everything and he knows everything so no one has any right to question what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/in-the-book-of-job-god-says-he-made-everything-and-he-knows/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“But there’s no power in having strength and brains, and yet waiting for God to fix things for you or take revenge for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/but-there-s-no-power-in-having-strength-and-brains-and-yet-waiting/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“After a few years of watching the human species make things unnecessarily difficult for itself I have little hope that it will do anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/after-a-few-years-of-watching-the-human-species-make-things/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“Self is. Self is body and bodily perception. Self is thought, memory, belief. Self creates. Self destroys. Self learns, discovers, becomes. Self shapes. Self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/self-is-self-is-body-and-bodily-perception-self-is-thought-memory/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [At school I was always taller than the rest of my class, and because I was an only child, I was comfortable with adults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/at-school-i-was-always-taller-than-the-rest-of-my-class-and-because-i/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“It was milk that had sickened her. Animal milk! These people cooked many things with animal milk!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/it-was-milk-that-had-sickened-her-animal-milk-these-people-cooked/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [Religion is everywhere. There are no human societies without it, whether they acknowledge it as a religion or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/religion-is-everywhere-there-are-no-human-societies-without-it/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) > [“There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-e-butler/there-is-nothing-new-under-the-sun-but-there-are-new-suns/) [Octavia E. Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) [Explore all 131 Octavia E. Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-e-butler/) ## More Insanity quotes > [Not everyone is capable of madness; and of those lucky enough to be capable, not many have the courage for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/not-everyone-is-capable-of-madness-and-of-those-lucky-enough-to-be/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Insanity is beautiful, I'm absolutely glad to be crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/insanity-is-beautiful-i-m-absolutely-glad-to-be-crazy/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Yeah, and there’s this constant refrain from privileged people; it’s like they’re all racing to prove how miserable they used to be. Every single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-archura/yeah-and-there-s-this-constant-refrain-from-privileged-people-it-s/) K. Archura > [A veil of insanity everywhere: Oh why I was born in this age? It is a terrible age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-veil-of-insanity-everywhere-oh-why-i-was-born-in-this-age-it-is-a/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [What is commonly honored with the name of Friendship is no very profound or powerful instinct. Men do not, after all, love their Friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-commonly-honored-with-the-name-of-friendship-is-no-very/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I was born in Tyrone, 1956, for something I didn't do. I was innocent. But they gave me life. I still remember the midwife…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mcaleer/i-was-born-in-tyrone-1956-for-something-i-didn-t-do-i-was-innocent/) Kevin McAleer > [“There is nothing that is more certain sign of insanity than to do the same thing over and over and expect the results to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/there-is-nothing-that-is-more-certain-sign-of-insanity-than-to-do-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“To stand at the very moment when all seems lost is the point of insanity for the coward, but it is the home of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-stand-at-the-very-moment-when-all-seems-lost-is-the-point-of/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“Falling in love is kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-jonze/falling-in-love-is-kind-of-like-a-form-of-socially-acceptable-insanity/) [Spike Jonze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-jonze/) > [“insanity is the inability to communicate your ideas. It’s as if you were in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/insanity-is-the-inability-to-communicate-your-ideas-it-s-as-if-you/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [From the town of Lincoln Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap, through the Badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/from-the-town-of-lincoln-nebraska-with-a-sawed-off-410-on-my-lap/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [The definition of insanity is doing the same thing with the same result over and over again, expecting something different. The left just spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-definition-of-insanity-is-doing-the-same-thing-with-the-same/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [One thing is certain: you can never become anything other than yourself, and unless you become yourself you cannot be happy. Happiness happens only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/one-thing-is-certain-you-can-never-become-anything-other-than/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Everyone is on the verge of insanity ... insanity meaning on the verge of the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-is-on-the-verge-of-insanity-insanity-meaning-on-the-verge-of/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Browse all 1,410 Insanity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insanity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The war was an insanity he had never understood, and no one in Phoenix had been able to explain it to him. At least, no one had been able to give him a reason why people who had excellent reasons to suppose they would destroy themselves if they did a certain thing chose to do that thing anyway. He thought he understood anger, hatred, humiliation, even the desire to kill a man. He had felt all those things. But to kill everyone … almost to kill the Earth … There were times when he wondered if somehow the Oankali had not caused the war for their own purposes. How could sane people like the ones he had left behind in Phoenix do such a thing—or, how could they let insane people gain control of devices that could do so much harm? If you knew a man was out of his mind, you restrained him. You didn’t give him power.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Octavia E. 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